Rescue device



Oct. 1, 1968 J. POMAGALSKI RESCUE DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 9, 1967 Oct. 1, 1968 I J. POMAGALSKI 3,403,750

RESCUE DEVICE Filed Jan. 9, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. POMAGALSKI Oct. 1, 1968 RESCUE DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan.

United States Patent 3,403,750 RESCUE DEVICE Jean Pomagalski, 114 Chemin de lEygala, La Tronche 38, France Filed Jan. 9, 1967, Ser. No. 607,939 Claims priority, application France, Jan. 13, 1966, 45,857; June 10, 1966, 65,137 6 Claims. (Cl. 182-189) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rescue device having a pole with a hook-like member slidable thereon for engagement with a cable or the like and means for raising or lowering a person who may be stranded in a seat on the cable or desiring to climb the pole to the cable.

The present invention relates to a rescue device affording access to high places, which is extremely simple in construction and permits an operator to have access to an elevated place in order to carry out rescue, repair or installation WOIk, etc.

It is an object of the invention to provide a rescue device having a one pole to afford access to places of different levels, e.g. to the cabins of an overhead cableway.

After hooking the pole an operator can climb up along the pole making use of the well-known climbing irons which surround the pole while they bear the Weight of the user, the irons being freely slidable along the pole when they are displaced by the feet of the user in an upward direction.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, this embodiment being given by way of illustration and not of limitation since numerous different embodiments will easily come to mind without going beyond the scope of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 shows a perspective view of the pole suspension device;

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the pole suspension device;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the device in accordance with the invention, the rescue worker being in the process of climbing up the pole to bring down a person in distress seated on a seat of a telpher conveyor system;

FIGURE 4 is a view of the upper end of the pole provided with a return pulley;

FIGURE 5 shows in perspective a hook for the suspension of the pole in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 6 shows the footrest and the safety belt used while climbing up the pole;

FIGURE 7 shows how a skier is brought down along the pole, the length of the pole having been considerably reduced to facilitate the description.

In the drawings, a tubular pole 10 of suitable length, for instance about 30 feet, is hooked by means of a suspension device 11 in accordance with the invention to a cross-member 12 of the frame of a seat 13 of an aerial conveyor or telpher system. The suspension device 11 comprises a first book 14 which constitutes the first fastening device, while a second hook or ring 16 constitutes the second fastening device which can also assume the shape of a snap hook and which serves to suspend from it a pulling means, for instances a rope 21, a ring surrounding the pole 10 with clearance when neither of the hooks is under load.

Two climbing irons 22 which do not form part of the invention since they are well-known in the art, make it possible for a rescue worker S to climb up the pole 10.

A fastener comprises a climbing iron which can surround the pole 11 and wedge the latter fast when a "ice downward pull is exerted on it. A suspension ring bears a safety belt 34.

The device operates as follows:

The rescue worker S takes the pole 10, places the ring 15 of the suspension device 11 on the pole and hooks the rope 21 to the hook 16 by means of a collar; the rope 21 being for instance provided with a loop splice 19 or any other equivalent fastening means. The rescue worker places the device 11 at the desired position on the pole 10 depending upon the height of the point of hooking (which, in the example selected, is the cross-member 12) and taking into consideration the fact that the pole 10 must hang freely after it has been attached. The rescue worker then straightens the pole 10 up by pulling on the rope 21. This pull is transmitted to the hook 16 which, therefore, tends to cause the device 11 to turn in a plane passing through the axis of the pole in clockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 1. This manual pull could possibly be replaced by the pull exerted by an elastic extensible spring suitably fastened to the pole and to the rope 21. The torque exerted on the device 11 causes the ring 15 to be wedged fast and locks the device 11 on the pole during the use of the latter. The rescue worker then suspends the pole by engaging the hook 14 on the cross-member 12 or any other equivalent point of hooking which can be engaged by the hook 14. It is now no longer necessary to pull on the rope 21 as the weight of the pole 10 produces the same result, that is to say the locking of the device 11 on the pole 10 due to a torque exerted on the ring 15 on the one hand by the pole and on the other hand by the cross-member 12.

It will be noted that the movable arrangement of the device 11 on the pole 10 makes it possible to reach high levels of different height with a single pole of sufficient length.

As a further feature of the invention, a yoke 69 (see FIGURE 4) can be fastened to the upper end of the pole 54 and a pulley 70 can turn on a pin 71 borne by the yoke 69. A wedge-shaped shoe 72 which is under the action of a tension spring 73 may possibly be urged towards the left, as seen in FIGURE 4, in order to brake and/or prevent the rotation of the pulley 70 in a clockwise direction.

This yoke and its pulley can be used for a second rope 67 serving to lower loads during repair or persons during rescue work.

However, the yoke and its pulley may be combined with the device in accordance with the invention in the following manner:

The suspension hook as modified in the present combination and designated generally as 62, which is shown in FIGURE 5, comprises a hook proper 63 which permits the attaching of the pole 54, a ring-shaped part 64 which surrounds the pole 54 and two lateral rings 65, 66 for guiding a rescue rope 67. A stop bar 68 prevents the wedging fast of the book 62 on the pole 54 during the raising of the hook.

The rescue device can advantageously be supplemented also by a footrest 74 (see FIGURES 6 and 7), consisting of a support 75 on which the users place their feet, possibly with skis on, and a guide part for the footrest on the pole, which comprises two sleeves 76, 77 connected by rods 78. A ring 79 is integral with the sleeve 77. A conventional safety belt 80 completes the equipment.

The device is employed in the following manner:

In the event that it is necessary to remove persons in distress who are at an elevated plate, for instance on the seat 81 of an overhead cableway (see FIGURE 7), the free end of a rope 67 is passed into the yoke 69 of the pole 54 which is of suitable length, for instance 50 feet. The ring 64 of the hook 62 is then placed over the lower end of the pole 54 and the two strands of the rope 67 3 are passed through the guide rings 65 and 66 respectively. A belt 80 is attached to the rope by a knot 82 and the corresponding end of the rope 67 is attached to the ring 79 of the footrest 74, which is also placed on the pole 54.

The pole is then set upright and when it is in more or less vertical position, one starts pulling on the free end of the rope 67 in order to raise the hook 62 to the desired height, the knot 82 permitting it to be carried along during this operation, while the pulley 70 can rotate freely (in clockwise direction as seen in FIGURE 6). The footrest 74 closely follows the hook 62. The hook 63 is then fastened to a suitable point of attachment such as the arm '83 which forms an integral part of the seat 81. The pole 54 can then be released and the latter will hang freely, its weight causing the tight wedging on the pole, as has been explained in the preceding example. A rescue Worker climbs in known manner up the pole. Arriving at the level of the seat 81, the rescue worker sits upon it. He then attaches the belt 80 to the body of a person Q who is to be evacuated and asks the latter to place his shoes, whether or not equipped with skis, on the rest 75. The person Q then descends while holding with his hands onto the pole, the speed of descent being regulated by a person R located on the ground who pulls on the free end of the rope 67. In any event, the descent is braked by the pulley 70 which is locked by the shoe 72 so that the rope 67 is forced to slide in the groove of the pulley, which produces the necessary braking action.

When the person Q has arrived at the ground, the operator R again raises the shoe-rest 74 and the belt 80 so as to permit the descent of other persons. The shape of the footrest 74 makes it possible for two persons to descend at once. In such case, obviously, a second safety belt will be used.

The evacuation having been completed, the rescue worker descends along the pole and it is unhooked.

In the variant which has just been described, a single rope 67 serves both as pulling device and as rescue device.

What I claim is:

1. A device for suspending a pole from a stationary part by means of a hooking device comprising:

a ring means for surrounding said pole with clearance,

a suspending device adapted to engage said stationary part and rigidly connected to said ring member at a given point of its circumference,

a fastening device to which a pulling device can be attached, said fastening device being rigidly connected to said ring member at a second point located substantially diametrically opposite said first point, so that said ring member can be held momentarily in place on the pole While the pole is raised in order to suspend it from said stationary part by the action of said ring member on said pole in response to a pull exerted on said fastening device whereas, after hooking, the pole is held suspended from said suspending device by the action of said ring member on said pole in response to the action exerted on said suspended ring member by said suspending device under the action of the weight of said pole.

2. A rescue device comprising:

a pole,

a suspension device according to claim 1,

a cable,

a device for fastening said cable to said fastening device.

3. A rescue device according to claim 2 in which a pulley is arranged at the top of the pole.

4. A rescue device according to claim 3 further comprising brake means for braking said pulley in one of its directions of rotation.

5. A rescue device comprising:

a pole,

a pulley arranged at the top of said pole,

a ring member capable of surrounding said pole with clearance, and being capable of sliding along said pole,

a suspending device rigidly connected to said ring member and adapted to engage a stationary part in order to have said ring member suspended to it,

two guide rings rigidly connected to said ring member in substantially diametrically opposed relationship a cable passing through one of said two guide rings then over said pulley and then through the second of said guide rings,

a stop device rigidly connected to said ring member and adapted to prevent the wedging of said ring member on said pole during the sliding of said ring member on said pole.

6. A rescue device according to claim 5 further comprising a footrest,

a guide device guided slidably on said pole and rigidly connected to said foot-rest, a device for fastening said guide device to a free end of said cable.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 473,581 4/1892 Judd 182-189 696,711 4/1902 Briner 182189 1,569,521 1/1926 Milton 182-63 2,172,094 9/1939 Voigt 182-3 2,965,193 12/1960 Murphy 182-189 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner. 

